Feel like I am going out of my mind

Hi, I’ve just discovered this great forum & would be so glad of any comments.

Have been having problems since January this year - unable to do intricate work with hands, pins & needles, water running down skin feeling, dropping things, overbalancing, knees giving way, appalling memory & concentration, forgetting words/names mid-sentance even though I can see them, tongue feels too big, stabbing pains in eye, constant floaters & hard to bear bright light, horrible banding pain in chest lasting up to 4 hours where I cannot move for fear of passing out or being sick & lower back pain to name a few. These symptoms come for 2-4 weeks then go for 2wk - 2 months & come back again. Have had 3 ‘attacks’ & think another 1 is starting. Calcium, throid levels etc are normal, ECG is clear.

My GP, like myself, thinks it could be MS so referred me to the neurologist. I was only in with him for a few minutes before he decided it probably wasn’t MS as I have ‘too many’ symptoms. He has referred me for a brain only MRI to exclude any major issues. He thinks the symptoms could be side effects of medication I take for depression but my specialist for that thinks it is highly unlikely to be the problem. We are changing my meds to be certain.

I feel like I am loosing my marbles. I get depression but am not otherwise unstable, my meds control it & I meditate etc to keep my mind calm but can’t help feeling the neuro thinks I am just imagining it. I know it’s not that I am getting stressed as the chest hugs came in the middle of the night & woke me up, the pain was the worst I’ve ever had, even beat labour pain!! If he will only do a brain MRI what about any symptoms that might be due to spinal problems? The not knowing what is wrong is awful.

Thanks for any help out there, didn’t realise how common MS & other similar illness’ are.

I think most of your symptoms are ones that could be brain lesions so a brain MRI might indicate a cause for most of them.

I only had a brain MRI.

Hope you get some answers soon.

Firstly, if the neurologist says it probably isn’t MS, that is encouraging in that it leaves open the option of many things that are easier to deal with. He has referred you for a brain MRI; that’s good too. Even if that does not explain conclusively what is going on, it will at least give some information about what isn’t, and that is all valuable progress towards finding out what ails.

Try not to read too much into what the neurologist is thinking or not thinking - he does not have much information to go on as yet, but soon he will have more. Try to stay calm and let things play out. I hope that you get to the bottom of it soon.

Alison